Venezia 9/16-9/23 Live (Kind of, Sort of)

[Haljo1935]

On 9/30/2023 at 3:31 PM, AFS1970 said:

...A couple of additional notes, the smoke from the main casino was strong. It flowed out to the elevators,  it even flowed up the glass tower to the deck above. Sometimes it was too strong to walk through other times it was just enough to be annoying. They need to figure out better ventilation...

Hey @AFS1970 during the BtF tour, the guide said they were still struggling w/the ventilation respective the casino. She said it just wasn't designed for these cruisers who smoke way more than the original cruisers. Her final comment, accompanied by a shoulder shrug was "it needs help."

It was beyond horrible at times.

[NYcruzzer]

2 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @AFS1970 during the BtF tour, the guide said they were still struggling w/the ventilation respective the casino. She said it just wasn't designed for these cruisers who smoke way more than the original cruisers. Her final comment, accompanied by a shoulder shrug was "it needs help."

It was beyond horrible at times.

Wasn't she originally designed for and sailed in the Chinese market ? Pretty sure Asians are know to be heavier smokers than Americans...

[Haljo1935]

4 hours ago, NYcruzzer said:

Wasn't she originally designed for and sailed in the Chinese market ? Pretty sure Asians are know to be heavier smokers than Americans...

That's what we've read. But they told us the previously intended market didn't smoke nearly as much as the current passengers; no idea what the smoking policy or habits were when it was used by the other passengers. You'd have to think if smoking was anywhere near current levels, the ventilation system would be more robust. Or were those pax more accepting of the smoke so they did not try to filter out the smoke like we expect?

Very curious.   

Edited October 7, 2023 by Haljo1935
Typo

[Alrana Eris]

Thanks everyone for the kind replies. I am finally getting to my wrap up. Work has kept me busy since our return. Since there is probably no such thing as a bad cruise, I can't complain.

 

I was the one that picked this itinerary. Nova Soctia was our honeymoon 30 years ago and I wanted to go back. Thankfully Hurricane Lee cooperated with that wish. We did see some storm damage along the way but nothing that took away from the cruise.

 

This was our first cruise out of NYC, which is close to us (we are in Connecticut). It was easy-peazy to get to and we got a tip here on CC to use an adress across the street instead of the port itself to avoid the long ramps. Lots of people doing the same thing. There is not much to the port, just lots of seating and aisles to walk through, but they got us on board early. Once on board we explored a bit, went to the buffet and waited for our room to be ready. We found our muster station in the casino fairly easily. 

 

This is possibly the prettiest ship in all of cruising. I loved the decor. I loved the artwork, the paintings and the Venetian glass were my favorites. From the start, walking into the Piaza San Marco just set the scene for what was to come. Although the bar under the lion had a strange step-up up which had the effect of lowering the bar half way around it. Weird but not really a problem, especially since I am rarely ordering from a bar. 

 

On previous cruises I have not been a fan of MDR's, this time I flipped the script and wanted to eat there most of the time. I convinced my more traditional DH to try MTD. We tried the MDR and just were not wowed. The service was OK but nothing special. The food was kind of bland. We ended up eating in the buffet more, which I think shocked DH. The food was better but the ambiance was not. I guess you have to trade one for the other sometimes.Although the MDR did feature the Carnival Melting Chocolate Cake which was awesonme and I had it twice. Afternoon Tea was something we had both looked forward to. We wrote about it before but it really felt like the wait staff forgot about us. We did not bother going again. 

 

The specialty restaurants were good. I loved the tepanaki but found the portions a little small in the steak house. Still the quality was great. I think this is the new way of cruising that as more and more specialty restaurants come on board, the MDR will suffer. We tried a couple of the other luch options. Guys Burgers were good, glad to see they were in fact grilled and not baked as some had thought here on CC. I didn't like the Seafood Shack but I went there late in the day. They were about to close and gave me two for one lobster rolls. The Lobster salad was a little strange, never had onions in that before. Not my favorite addition to a classic dish. 

 

Lots of activities, I played Bingo, had fun but didn't win. Most of my down time was either walking around exploring or playing in the casino. Due to the smoke that was in the main casino, I was mostly in the small crowded annex. Got to see a vlogger (I have no clue who he was, but he had a following) playing some slot machine. The cruise Vloggers I watch were oddly enough on another cruiseline follow a couple of days behind us on a similar itinerary. 

 

Loved the 80's party, the Carnivale and the Italian Street Party. I think these were the high point of the entertainment to me. The only production show we saw was Epic Rock and it was amazing. DH did it again, no matter where we go, he somehow manages to find strangers that are in the same line of work to chat with. Odd because he is the less social of the two of us. We sat down in the theater for the rock show and he was able to talk shop with a stranger we happened to be sitting next to. Go figure! The show was staged rock classics, somewhat shortened and with an ensemble cast, but it was really good. The kind of show I would see again,

 

The ports were a mixed bag. St John didn't thrill us. It seemed like a mix of heavy industrial and a poor rundown community. The aging fleet of double decker busses went through some sketchy areas. Halifax was nice, but even though it was a long stop, it felt rushed. The Brewery tour took an hour not a half hour as I had thought but that just added to the sense of rushing. Sydney was our favorite even though it seemed like the shortest and smallest port. Over all I liked the ports, and was glad that unlike the southern cruises one was not taken up by a cruiseline owned beach stop. I like ports where I can do things on my own, even if it is picking from a list of excursions. 

 

I like the pictures the cruise lines take, espcially on elegant night. I thought the backgrounds were better quality than other cruises we have been on. However one we stopped at turned out to be the portrait studio, where they wanted $100 per print. The hard sell was like being in the mandatory lecture at a time share. The regular prints were good. We had ordered a package before the cruise and ended up buying more on board. We probably should have bought the next package up. 

 

I met some nice people on the cruise, some through that other site that isn't CC. I have to say that even though Carnival gets a bad reputation for the people on board, I didn't see anyone I would say was a bad element. Never heard loud noise in the hallways at night, didn't see any fights. Security was always present but seemed to stay relatively out of view most of the time. Another thing I noticed was that despite being known as a a hard drinking and partying cruiseline, I saw a lot of people just relaxing at bars and chatting peacefully. I also noticed a lot of people drinking bottled water while at trivia, bingo or listening to the bands. Never saw any excessive drinking and that is something I am a little more aware of and annoyed by than others. 

 

We eventually got used to the elevators. If I could learn those crazy inclinators at the Luxor in Las Vegas, I guess I can see just how dumb a smart elevator is. I got into the habit of mimicking the elevator's voice, which I hope others found as funny as I did.

 

All in all this was a good cruise. We are not big cruisers, this was only #3 for us since 2005 and only #2 on Carnival. Not sure we will become frequent cruisers but we are open to another cruise if we found a ship and itinerary we both like. Thank you all for the feedback, this live(ish) review was a new thing for both of us, but it was kind of fun sharing with all of you.

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Alrana Eris

[theavonb]

This was our first cruise out of NYC, which is close to us (we are in Connecticut). It was easy-peazy to get to and we got a tip here on CC to use an adress across the street instead of the port itself to avoid the long ramps. Lots of people doing the same thing. There is not much to the port, just lots of seating and aisles to walk through, but they got us on board early. Once on board we explored a bit, went to the buffet and waited for our room to be ready. We found our muster station in the casino fairly easily. 
 

Hello, Can you explain what you mean about using the address across the street, and long ramps? Is this if taking a taxi to the port? 
Loved your review, thank you. 31 days for us, excited 🛳️

[jimbo5544]

Very nice review, thanks for doing it.

[Cherries Jubilee]

Thank you so much for the review! 

[AFS1970]

On 10/9/2023 at 11:03 AM, theavonb said:

Hello, Can you explain what you mean about using the address across the street, and long ramps? Is this if taking a taxi to the port? 
Loved your review, thank you. 31 days for us, excited 🛳️

Sorry, yes this is when taking a taxi or uber to the port. Instead of entering the drop off area via a ramp a couple of blocks up, we used the address of a building across the street from the crosswalk. This kept us from getting stuck in traffic. Then we just walked across the street with our bags and checked them with the porters. 

 

This brings up another issue, the predatory gypsy cabs when you get off the ship. In NYC Uber& Lyft are considered taxis and are under all the same regulations. One of those is that drivers are not allowed to approach potential customers. almost as soon as we got out of the port building there were dozens of drivers walking up to us asking if we needed a cab or uber. These are for the most part unlicensed cars and they will likely charge you way more than they should. There is no way to complain about them as they are not licensed, they will often raise the price from what you agreed to while you are in the car. They are at the cruise terminals, the airports and the bus terminal. If you want a regular taxi, there is a taxi stand across the street. I believe you can get an uber to come into the port although we walked across the street and up the block a bit so we would be out of the crowd. 

[EBONI325]

On 9/16/2023 at 10:57 PM, icft said:

Make riding the elevator an exercise in math and logic. In other words they make you work more so they can reduce the number of elevators to allow for more people to be squeezed onto the ship. Geeks (who love making the easy complicated) love them, normal folks with a few drinks hate them.

I found the elevators to be less crowded, with this system. It eliminates 10 people pushing their way in when it's only room for 5.

[EBONI325]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:15 PM, Riles34 said:

I loved these elevators! You choose the floor you want to go to on a tablet outside the elevator and then it tells you what elevator you will take. Most of the time it will go right to your floor and they have minimal people if any at all riding with you. It is very simple but something different than what most are used too....people don't like change! Wish they had these on the Celebration! I have never walked so many stairs in a week cruise until that ship, the elevators were awful!

I'm with you I found the elevators to much less crowded sometimes it maybe only 2 or 3 people with you. Much better than everyone running to the elevator as soon as they hear a bing and everyone wants to squeeze in.

[EBONI325]

Thank you so much for your review for a first you both did a great job. About the ice, I was on in July and never did get ice, was told the first day the ice machine wasn't working, next day the same, so I just got ice from the buffet. And I agree with the smoke in the casino, it was the worst ever!!!

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, EBONI325 said:

Thank you so much for your review for a first you both did a great job. About the ice, I was on in July and never did get ice, was told the first day the ice machine wasn't working, next day the same, so I just got ice from the buffet. And I agree with the smoke in the casino, it was the worst ever!!!

We took floding ice coolers in case there was an issue with ice. We did not have an issue w/cabin steward filling them daily. A couple times, we got ice in Lido when he hadn't come by yet, but always able to get it somewhere. 

And yes, casino smoke was horrible. 

[theavonb]

10 hours ago, AFS1970 said:

Sorry, yes this is when taking a taxi or uber to the port. Instead of entering the drop off area via a ramp a couple of blocks up, we used the address of a building across the street from the crosswalk. This kept us from getting stuck in traffic. Then we just walked across the street with our bags and checked them with the porters. 

 

This brings up another issue, the predatory gypsy cabs when you get off the ship. In NYC Uber& Lyft are considered taxis and are under all the same regulations. One of those is that drivers are not allowed to approach potential customers. almost as soon as we got out of the port building there were dozens of drivers walking up to us asking if we needed a cab or uber. These are for the most part unlicensed cars and they will likely charge you way more than they should. There is no way to complain about them as they are not licensed, they will often raise the price from what you agreed to while you are in the car. They are at the cruise terminals, the airports and the bus terminal. If you want a regular taxi, there is a taxi stand across the street. I believe you can get an uber to come into the port although we walked across the street and up the block a bit so we would be out of the crowd. 

Ah ok I get it now and thanks for the heads up about the gypsy cabs👍👍

[matt082600]

Great review.  Thanks for taking the time to write it!